The Stealth Hippopotamus:learn2fly: I have lived in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas all my life, and have never actually seen a funnel cloud. As damaging as that thing was, I would also have loved to seen this.

How?! I once stood on my father's patio and saw three at one time!

They've always been within 20 miles, but never close. *shrugs* I hope I'm not jinxing myself now. :)

I LOVE big storms. I drive into them when I know they are going to be wicked. I would love to see a tornado like that, without question. Would I be wetting my pants, probably. I have pulled over to watch funnel clouds and when lightning is striking, I am right at the sliding glass door to watch it.

However if I saw a storm like that, I would immediately drive to the area to look for people who need help. And it would probably scar me for life looking at that kind of devastation. It is so beautiful to me, that much power. But that kind of devastation makes my heart go out to all the people who lose loved ones/pets and everything they own. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. (Well maybe the Westboro Baptists)

jack21221:One of the stormchasers that took the linked video lost his home too. From your link:

One of our storm chasers, Chance Coldiron said, "Damon, my house was just taken out and I think yours was too."

I'm thinking that this situation must have been pretty surreal. The kid made his bones in my neck of the woods (Abilene Tx) and has done well for himself. From the looks of it, he outkicked his coverage too! (She worked at the same station)

When I worked in (and with) agencies that had responsibilities for disaster response and relief, we eventually started referring to vids like this "storm porn." People like to watch it, but often fail to learn from it.

Lesson #1: Pay at least some attention to the weather. No threat; no precautions needed. Now, on the other hand, if there is a severe and immediate t-storm advisory in effect, it's not a good idea to take your dog out for a long walk.

/A neighbor did that, just last Summer. She finally made it back to her house, but her dog ran back to mine, first.

My mom hates roller coasters and can't so much as watch a roller coaster video without getting ill. I felt this way watching this video. I am having a minor anxiety attack now. Hurricanes, blizzards, tsunamis, earthquakes? Bring them on. I'll have some form of warning or live in a place equipped to handle it. Tornados? It's just focused chaos that if you get ANY warning, it's barely enough.

Ed Becker:Seems to me that a lot of today's storm chasers were yesterday's kids that threw shiat at hornets' nests.

Bi-Polar disorder, according to statistics I will gladly pull out of my ass, almost all Americans now have it (as it's profitable to diagnose them with it). One of the characteristics is risk taking. Dead giveaway.

Seems like the best plan is to get in a car and get out of the way, rather than trying to find someplace to hide within your home. Two reasons...1. You're out of harm's way.2. You'll still have a vehicle, even if you've lost everything else.

shifter_:Everyone wants to see one, but in all seriousness. On Video is the only way..... just too dangerous to watch in person...

I got an up-close-and-personal view of a (tiny) F1 tornado in the summer of '92. One moment the sky was yellow...the next moment it was black, my ears popped & I heard what sounded like a 747 fly directly above me.

shifter_:Everyone wants to see one, but in all seriousness. On Video is the only way..... just too dangerous to watch in person...

This. There's only two things in this world I am genuinely terrified of and tornadoes are one of them. Even watching the videos the pit of my stomach drops and my sphincter clenches like I am riding a rollercoaster.

The Southern Dandy:Seems like the best plan is to get in a car and get out of the way, rather than trying to find someplace to hide within your home. Two reasons...1. You're out of harm's way.2. You'll still have a vehicle, even if you've lost everything else.

Well except if everyone tries that then you end up stuck in traffic in your car when it hits.

The 1987 Edmonton tornado might have been the first time I ever thought about tornadoes. Passed about 2 miles east of my house. I remember seeing the black finger of cloud rushing up from the south west, then hiding in the basement with my family, then going outside to try to catch and scavenge hailstones. I have some gorgeous pictures of the funnel cloud that my grandmother's friend took - he lived a block or so away from the path of destruction.

To this day, I find tornadoes to be one of the most beautiful, terrible sights.

Godscrack:People throw around the word 'awesome' all the time. THIS is an awesome sight.

I would love to see a tornado from a distance, just to see it and hear it, but not as close as these guys get.

When you step back and think about the sheer power and destruction... and it's made of nothing but air. And not only that but it happens naturally, and often. It's really quite amazing. The universe is a crazy place.

tinfoil-hat maggie:The Southern Dandy: Seems like the best plan is to get in a car and get out of the way, rather than trying to find someplace to hide within your home. Two reasons...1. You're out of harm's way.2. You'll still have a vehicle, even if you've lost everything else.

Well except if everyone tries that then you end up stuck in traffic in your car when it hits.

About two minutes after the end of the video is when it struck my parents house. About two minutes later, i stepped out of my home and watched it continue on and hit the Moore hospital. I just saw the storm path on google maps, and i've realized that when i stepped out, i though it was closer and smaller, when in fact it was further and larger than i could've imagined. When we lost power it was only a 1/2 mile wide and four miles out.

The Southern Dandy:Seems like the best plan is to get in a car and get out of the way, rather than trying to find someplace to hide within your home. Two reasons...1. You're out of harm's way.2. You'll still have a vehicle, even if you've lost everything else.

With a longer lead time in warning, yes, sure. Typically tornado warnings come only a few minutes before however. By that time, there is driving rain, wind, hail that makes road travel dangerous. This stops right before the tornado passes, but then you have flying debris to contend with and a car is not safe at all.

There aren't many cars on the road because people are (wisely) taking shelter. Only if you have absolutely no shelter should you get in a car when a tornado is bearing down on you.

shifter_:Everyone wants to see one, but in all seriousness. On Video is the only way..... just too dangerous to watch in person...

Honestly if you're a trained spotter and know what you're doing, the tornado is the least dangerous thing about the storm, as far as observing goes. The tornado is a small area of the storm and is rather visible (unless it gets rain wrapped). You're in more danger from the hail and lightning than the tornado, PROVIDED YOU STAY BEHIND IT. They hammered this into my head during SkyWarn Training. Stay BEHIND IT or PARALLEL TO IT. DO NOT GET IN FRONT OF IT. Only once in the past three years of working with SkyWarn have I ever ended up in front of one and that was by complete chance and it turned out to be an EF0.